I hated Young Justice when it premiered. Aside from Robin and Kid Flash, I couldn't care about any of the characters - Miss Martian and Aqualad were dull as paste, and Artemis and Superboy were just obnoxious a-holes.

What a difference some beard growth makes.

First off, the characterization: Sometime around Failsafe, I noticed a change in quality - the show was finally working. And with each succeeding episode, it got better and better. Miss Martian became a major Woobie, and Superboy and Artemis became understandable and likeable characters. As a matter of fact, I hated Artemis when she first showed up, but she's developed into one of my favorite characters in the show.

As for my other major complaint, in The Light... Well, I don't see how Klarion and Orm could really pull their own weight in the same league as the other five members, but as individuals? They're all great villains. Klarion is by far my favorite villain in the series, even though I can't unhear Felix when I listen to him.

That said, the two new members, Rocket and Zatanna seem kind of superfluous. Or at least, Rocket does. The show focuses a little on Zatanna, but the main focus is on the main six members of the Team. I hope this changes once Jaime Reyes, one of my favorite DC heroes, shows up and joins.

As before, the show has fantastic animation and character design, but it's also bolstered by massively improved characterization and plotting - the show takes an approach to its arc like Transformers Animated in having episodes be self-contained, but move the plot along in B-plots. The Reveal of Red Arrow being the mole genuinely surprised me.

Greg, if you're reading this now, I apologize for my previous judgment. You may have stumbled quite a bit at the beginning, but you made up for it insanely fast.

Comments

That's why you review a season in one go, or individual episodes as they come, not parts of a whole season.

VeryMelon

19th Apr 12

That's why you review a season in one go, or individual episodes as they come, not parts of a whole season.

ManwiththePlan

19th Apr 12

Meh. I'm so put off of Young Justice that I fail to see how any Beard Growth could make me care.

qtjinla15

19th Apr 12

Give reasons please.

romxxii

23rd Apr 12

Why would you call it "Beard Growth" when the season as a whole was a natural, pre-planned progression from untrusting, ragtag band to highly-effective and loyal team? The groundwork was laid out well in advance; Miss Martian's true identity was hinted at as far back as Bereft, possibly even earlier. And Artemis got her key character growth moment during Homefront, a full _four_ episodes before Failsafe.

Also, why would you wonder how Klarion could pull his own weight, when he's been shown since his first appearance as a walking Diabolus Ex Machina, rivaled only by his in-universe opposite? Were you really even watching?

RobbieRotten

23rd Apr 12

i completly agree. it starts of "eh" but around when the real plot kicks in it gets very good

CodeRobin

29th Apr 12

I cant see your reviews coming fro one peerson; you seem schizophrenic.

That said Klarion is a fucking Chaos Lord an Orm is a Super Sorceoer (and Aquaan archenemy) how do they not "pull weight?"

KaNugget

30th Apr 12

I thought this was a pretty good and useful review, so I'm going to respond to the other commenter. This show did grow it's beard. And this is why. Growing the Beard is defined by this very website as "In general, [the point] where the franchise starts to find its voice." The first two-thirds of the first season of this show were consistently sub-par. Yes, this is a common attribute of new shows and one of the reasons for this is probably attributed to meeting of new characters (so be scared for a lull in the second season, but we might get lucky because they finally found their place). Yes all the plot points and reveals were set up in advanced and hinted to early on. But the writers didn't find their voice until recently. While this is a mild version of Growing the Beard and not everyone would agree with it many fans can see (and have commented on) the change.

Second of all, and I'm not the original poster so I don't know if this is true, but I assume Allspark Spin Out was referring to Klarion and Orm pulling weight team wise and characterization wise, not power level. I don't see that with Klarion, because he's had two episodes dedicated to him as the protagonist and at least another as a major player, but I see it with Orm. Seriously, other than the comics (which I've only a read a few of, none which he appeared in) what has he done? He hasn't done anything to help the Light that is of any significance that I can remember. And I see Queen Bee as weaker than Klarion. Not that she's not a good character or powerful, it's just that she's only have one episode of her as the antagonist. Meanwhile Lex Vandal Savage has had a ton and while Lex and Ra's haven't had too many they are major villain in the shows we grew up in (Batman and Superman the Animated Series, plus Justice Leauge Unlimited) and mainstream villains.

ManwiththePlan

30th Apr 12

Well, now that the show's made a controversial Time Skip for it's second season, would you say that it's Jumped The Shark or not?

Estvyk

1st May 12

Heh, in the discussions I've seen, a lot of the people liking the changes didn't like the season one team to begin with. They see it as a fresh start, and Tim Drake and Cassie Sandsmark actually being from the Young Justice comic is a major plus.

CodeRobin

2nd May 12

Queen Bee runs a whole nation and has Mind Control (she also set up that whole Quarc thing as well as the Boom Tube transfer) Ocean Master set up the transport of Starro to the surface. But I do see how he was underused.

KaNugget

4th May 12

I'm not saying Queen Bee or Ocean Master aren't useful members of the Light, they have just have a lot less screen time than the others. In fact, this is a huge problem in the show. They're are too many characters. Yeah, it's fun to see cameos of our favorite characters who usually doesn't get a lot of screen time in other medias but it takes away from the development of the reoccurring characters. Actually one of my fears of the new season is lack of development. I was just starting to like the entire team, including Artemis who I hated up until Insecurity. And now there's a bunch of new characters. Three core team members were in the first episode. But then again we can't really say anything about the direction that this show is going in until we see more of this season.

EricW

10th Nov 12

It's true. The joker seems far more subdued all things considered, and this actually works against him after all the interpretations we've had of him going wild. Heck, even though ledger was subdued at times, there's an underlying terror that he has, and I don't quite get that from Brent Spiner's joker. Funny isn't it? They spend so much time rehabilitating Z and C list villains, when they sometimes neglect the A listers.

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